John Brown Gordon

John Brown Gordon (6 February 1832-9 January 1904) was Governor of Georgia from 9 November 1886 to 8 November 1890, succeeding Henry D. McDaniel and preceding William J. Northen, and a Senator from Georgia from 1873 to 1880 and from 1891 to 1897. Loyal to the US Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan, he opposed Reconstruction, and he favored the industrialization of the American South.

American Civil War
John Brown Gordon was born in Upson County, Georgia on 6 February 1832, and he passed the bar examination at the University of Georgia. Gordon had no military education or experience when he became a mountaineer company captain in the Confederate States Army in 1861. In November 1862, he rose to the rank of Brigadier-General, and he was wounded in the eyes at Malvern Hill during the Seven Days Battles. Gordon was wounded five times at the Battle of Antietam, including a shot to the cheek that exited through the jaw; he nearly drowned in his own blood. In 1864, he was promoted to Major-General, and he fought against Ulysses S. Grant during the Overland Campaign. He prevened a Confederate route at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and he was wounded in the leg during a failed attack on Fort Stedman at the same time as the Siege of Petersburg. On 12 April 1865, Gordon and his troops surrendered to the US Army.

Democratic politician
Gordon entered politics as a Southern Democrat after the end of the Civil War, and he attempted to run for Governor of Georgia in 1868. Gordon became the titular head of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia during the Reconstruction era, calling it the "peace police". In 1873, Gordon was elected to the Senate as a senator from Georgia, succeeding US Republican Party senator Joshua Hill. He supported the industrialization of the American South, and he resigned from the Senate in 1880 to promote a venture for the Georgia Pacific Railway. From 1886 to 1890, he served as Governor of Georgia, and he again served as a senator from 1891 to 1897. Gordon led the United Confederate Veterans organization until his death in 1904 at the age of 72.